Monday, November 16, 2009

“We can’t change the science... We have to change the politics.”

The new head of the environmental group Greenpeace, South African Kumi Naidoo criticized Barack Obama in a BBC interview for losing his urgency on the issue of climate change. Naidoo, the first African to head Greenpeace since its foundation in 1971, believed Obama made the fate of the earth a priority during his election campaign but has since been disappointing in his actions.

As the December Copenhagen climate summit approaches, many want a new treaty that is wider-ranging and more sophisticated than the Kyoto agreement. Ultimately, nations are looking to the Copenhagen treaty to curb the growth in greenhouse gas emissions enough to keep the world within a safe limit of average temperature rise.

“Anything short of a binding treaty in Copenhagen must be read as a failure of leadership on the part of the political class,” said Naidoo, who also expressed dismay that Obama has not yet clearly announced his intention to attend the summit.

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About Me

PRI and its Museum of the Earth is located in Ithaca, NY, and was founded in 1932 by Gilbert Harris, professor of geology at Cornell University, to house his collection and library, the Institution has gone through several expansions, most recently with the creation of the Museum of the Earth. The Museum contains 8000 square feet of permanent exhibits, telling the history of life on Earth through the geological record of the Northeastern U.S. Unique elements include the skeletons of the Hyde Park Mastodon and Right Whale #2030 and the 544 square foot mural, Rock of Ages Sands of Time.